The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or park.

Just recently, on a couple of occasions, I've not been able to remove the
key. Both times when shopping - so not (obviously) wanting to leave the
car with the keys in it, drove home. Where the key then came out normally.

Basically it's not turning to the fully off position. But I'm not sure
what's stopping it - my guess is the interlock from the gearlever. Anyone
had this sort of system apart and know how it works? A complete new lock
and switch assembly likely costs as much as a new car - by the time it's
been programmed in. ;-)

It's quite easy to remove the actual lock barrel itself - if I knew what
to look for inside.

--
*Never miss a good chance to shut up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or park.

Just recently, on a couple of occasions, I've not been able to remove the
key. Both times when shopping - so not (obviously) wanting to leave the
car with the keys in it, drove home. Where the key then came out normally.

Basically it's not turning to the fully off position. But I'm not sure
what's stopping it - my guess is the interlock from the gearlever. Anyone
had this sort of system apart and know how it works? A complete new lock
and switch assembly likely costs as much as a new car - by the time it's
been programmed in. ;-)

It's quite easy to remove the actual lock barrel itself - if I knew what
to look for inside.


There seem to be two possibilities (assuming it is related to the
gearlever interlock). Either the "switch" at the gearlever end is giving
a false (in-gear) signal and that is "correctly" engaging a mechanical
anti-withdrawal lock, perhaps by a solenoid. Or the gearlever end is OK
but the "solenoid" is sticky and so not freeing up mechanically to
release the key.

Knowing that locks get sticky and sometimes need jiggling to release the
key even without such interlocks, I'd think mechanical is more likely.
They way I would tackle it (YMMV)is to squirt in WD40 and jiggle. If
that frees it up, you know this is where the problem is.

If you can identify the electrical signal wire from the gearlever to the
ignition, you could check its state as you jiggle the lever (with the
ignition on, perhaps with the engine running too). That might show you
if the gearlever "switch" is behaving anomalously.

I'm assuming it's an analogue signal, maybe a dangerous assumption in
these times. If it is digital, it's going to be more difficult!

On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or park.

Just recently, on a couple of occasions, I've not been able to remove the
key. Both times when shopping - so not (obviously) wanting to leave the
car with the keys in it, drove home. Where the key then came out normally.

Basically it's not turning to the fully off position. But I'm not sure
what's stopping it - my guess is the interlock from the gearlever.

If you put your ear to the key, can you actually hear anything clicking
when you move the gear lever? Is there a small solenoid for the interlock?

Michael

Michael Kilpatrick wrote in
o.uk:

On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny
state rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or
park.


Michael



Is there a sequence issue? Perhaps sometimes you try to turn off before
getting the gear lever to neutral and this puts a mechanical load onto the
release mechanism.

In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
Michael Kilpatrick wrote in
o.uk:

On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny
state rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or
park.


Michael



Is there a sequence issue? Perhaps sometimes you try to turn off before
getting the gear lever to neutral and this puts a mechanical load onto
the release mechanism.

I've had the car for 12 years.

--
*The statement above is false

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

The early interlocked boxes used a cable from gear selector to switch I
vaguely recall from my old E36 Bentley manual. Whether the E39 copied
this I don't know. My 325 didn't have such nonsense thankfully so I
never investigated it.

I hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs (ie I can't believe you haven't
come across these!) but have a shufti at:

www.realoem.com - online parts catalogue (very useful)

tis.spaghetticoder.org - tech info (if it's mechanical, try here)

wds.spaghetticoder.org - wiring diagrams (if it's electronic, it'll be
in here)

Scott

On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or park.

Just recently, on a couple of occasions, I've not been able to remove the
key. Both times when shopping - so not (obviously) wanting to leave the
car with the keys in it, drove home. Where the key then came out normally.

Basically it's not turning to the fully off position. But I'm not sure
what's stopping it - my guess is the interlock from the gearlever. Anyone
had this sort of system apart and know how it works? A complete new lock
and switch assembly likely costs as much as a new car - by the time it's
been programmed in. ;-)

If you do find that it's a mechanical interlock, don't fix it - just
remove the stupid thing!

Manufacturers do seem to come up with some odd ideas - I had a car that
locked the boot when the engine was running and would not allow either
the internal or external release switches to open it. Now I can
understand that they designed it to lock so that no-one could grab stuff
from your boot at traffic lights and I can understand not accidentally
opening the boot from the internal release while moving, but why not
simply make the internal button enable the external one for 5 seconds or
something like that so that when picking up or dropping off a passenger,
it's not necessary to switch the engine off while they put their stuff
in the boot?

SteveW

"SteveW" wrote in message
...
On 17/07/2012 23:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The ignition switch on my BMW has a number of interlocks - nanny state
rules.

One is you can't remove the key without putting the car in neutral or
park.

Just recently, on a couple of occasions, I've not been able to remove the
key. Both times when shopping - so not (obviously) wanting to leave the
car with the keys in it, drove home. Where the key then came out
normally.

Basically it's not turning to the fully off position. But I'm not sure
what's stopping it - my guess is the interlock from the gearlever. Anyone
had this sort of system apart and know how it works? A complete new lock
and switch assembly likely costs as much as a new car - by the time it's
been programmed in. ;-)

If you do find that it's a mechanical interlock, don't fix it - just
remove the stupid thing!

Manufacturers do seem to come up with some odd ideas - I had a car that
locked the boot when the engine was running and would not allow either the
internal or external release switches to open it. Now I can understand
that they designed it to lock so that no-one could grab stuff from your
boot at traffic lights and I can understand not accidentally opening the
boot from the internal release while moving, but why not simply make the
internal button enable the external one for 5 seconds or something like
that so that when picking up or dropping off a passenger, it's not
necessary to switch the engine off while they put their stuff in the boot?

Yeah, that approach would be completely ****ing useless for a taxi.